Toronto police say they know who mall shooter is

Reuters

* Police say man shot dead may have had gang affiliation

* Two shooting victims still in hospital

* Eaton Centre, top tourist destination, remains closed

By Jeffrey Hodgson

TORONTO, June 3 (Reuters) - Toronto police said on Sundaythey think they know the identity of the shooter who killed oneperson and wounded six others on Saturday in a rare outburst ofmajor violence at the city's main downtown mall.

Police also named the man killed: 24-year-old Torontoresident Ahmed Hassan, who they said may have had some gangaffiliation.

"Our investigation clearly suggests that this is a targetedshooting and not a random act of violence against the members ofthe general public," Brian Borg, a Toronto police detective,told a media briefing.

"Whether this is a gang motivated shooting has not beendefinitively determined. But I can say it is being closelylooked at given that at least one of the victims has known gangassociations."

Police did not release a description of the suspect and saidthey did not want to contaminate the information they mightstill receive from the general public.

But the video footage they obtained from the mall "has beenextremely fruitful in identifying the person that we believe isresponsible for this shooting," said Borg.

"The information that we're moving forward with is thatthere is one gunman, and one gun," he said.

VICTIMS STILL IN HOSPITAL

A 23-year old man who was shot in the neck and chest remainsin hospital in critical condition, police said.

Another victim, a 13-year-old boy who was visiting Torontowith his family, is also in hospital after being shot in thehead. Borg said he is responding well to treatment and is incritical but stable condition.

Police said seven people in total were shot or grazed. Theremaining victims have been discharged from or left thehospital.

A 28-year old pregnant woman who was knocked down in themelee that followed the shooting is still in hospital, but isdoing well, police said.

The crime happened on Saturday evening in a food court atthe Eaton Centre, one of the city's top tourist destinations.Witnesses said they heard more than half a dozen shots, whichtriggered a rush to flee the building.

The mall, which remained closed on Sunday, was evacuated andquickly surrounded by dozens of police cars, emergency vehiclesand forensic vans.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said he believed police would make anarrest soon and urged residents to carry on as usual.

"This is a safe city and I want people to continue doingwhat they do every day, go out with their families, go shopping,have fun," he said.

The incident revived memories of another shooting thathappened just north of the Eaton Centre on Dec. 26, 2005,Canada's Boxing Day holiday, in which a 15-year-old girl waskilled and several other people were wounded. That shooting wasbelieved to be gang-related.

Canada has stringent controls on handguns and a lower rateof gun-related violence than the United States. But massshootings are not unknown.

In 1989, a lone gunman targeting women killed 14 people at aMontreal university in what became known as the Montrealmassacre.